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A Word From Our Associate&
THE "DIVINE" LITURGY
I was talking some time past with an Orthodox priest who said, in the course of the conversation, "Liturgy puts the world right." At the time I remember thinking that he had overstated his point a bit. Sure, the Mass is something special, I thought, a good time to pray, a chance to build the community of faith, I like going to Mass, but come on, putting the world right? The way to do that was some kind of action, whether political or economic or missionary. After all, I thought, the Mass is just a group of people praying. Good for them, but what about everyone who isn't there?
I have since come to understand that he was only saying what the Church has always taught and believed about the Liturgy. Vatican II reproduced and deepened this traditional wisdom: the Council Fathers wrote that "no other action of the Church is equal to the efficacy" of the Liturgy. Efficacy, an interesting word. It means that this action, the Mass and the other Sacraments and the Liturgy of the Hours "gets the most done" for the saving of the world. How can this be?
It goes something like this: God created the world, and the human race, to live in harmony with heaven, to share the light and beauty and joy of the heavenly dance. When our race rebelled, we destroyed this harmony, and we got out of sync with heaven. We became disordered, chaotic, out of step. This disorder affected our personalities, it poisoned our relationships, it led to violence and fear and suffering, and ultimately to death. Christ came to re-establish the heavenly order among us. This is why we pray: "May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
He restores this order in many ways: internally by giving us grace to be masters of ourselves; in our relationships by teaching us the law of love and giving us hearts able to love. But all is founded on a more "cosmic" restoration of order: earth is to be restored to the heavenly rhythms, is once again to be made one with celestial life. This is what happens at Mass. This is why it has always been called the "divine" liturgy. It comes from heaven. Christ taught us to do it, and commanded that we carry on the practice. It puts the world back into line with heavenly reality. It brings across space and time the dramatic act of Christ whose death saved the world. And each time we attend Mass, the whole Church is there: past and present, angels and saints, living and dead, far and near, the new human race in its entirety. This is why the Church has always paid so much attention to the proper celebration of the Divine Liturgy, why it insists on unity, why it demands a certain form. Only when it is done the way it was commanded, according to the heavenly pattern, can it do what it is meant to do: restore earth to heaven; or, yes, "put the world right."
And so we pray at Mass: "Lord, may this sacrifice which has made our peace with you, advance the peace and salvation of all the world." Every Sunday. God mysteriously putting the world right.
Fr. Michael Keating
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